Top Photo: Larva of larger elm leaf beetle skeletonizing elm leaf in Catch the Wind.

We’re fast approaching fall. It has cooled some but not overwhelmingly so. There’s been a break in the barrage of high 90 degree days and stifling humidity. The tropical heat and humidity are temporarily on hold. But a break, no matter how small or short-lived, is a break. You can feel a difference. I’m mostly happy with it.

So, here are a group of animals, plants, and fungi you might come across on a walk around the museum’s outdoor trails through Explore the Wild, Catch the Wind, The Dinosaur Trail and even Hideaway Woods.

Skeletonized leaves are a hint of what’s eating the elm leaves along our outdoor paths here at the museum (see top photo). The larvae of large elm leaf beetles have in the past defoliated our elms. Fortunately this year the damage has been rather sparse, which is typical of this coleopteran. A few years of overwhelming infestations and then a drastic drop in their numbers. A few trees in our area are feeling the hit this year but it’s a low number year overall.

Two-lined spittle bugs start their lives in what looks like spittle on a blade of grass or other vegetational elements. They are safe from predators and dehydration within the self created spittle.

Mushrooms continue to pop up. But with most fungi, turnaround is fast. The Caesar’s Amanita is a good example.

Coral mushrooms come in various sizes and shapes, but all resemble actual coral.

While investigating fungi on tree stumps in Hideaway Woods there was a fungus beetle also exploring the stumps. Diaperis maculata is the beetle. They are often found near polypore mushrooms. Diaperis seems to mean through while maculata refers to the spots or blotches on the elytra. Note the beaded antennae. They are darkling beetles.

I sometimes find sphinx moth caterpillars in the trees above me while walking along. The frass (poop) they drop is usually a dead giveaway. Frass on the ground means a caterpillar above. But often they’re just too difficult to pick out from the leaves. The frass, though, is unmistakable and clear evidence of a moth or butterfly larva above.

You can find some of the most interesting subjects while taking a hike. But, as I often say, If you don’t go outside where they are, you simply won’t see them.

Enjoy!